\nChancellor Robert Khayat congratulates senior Alecia Waite on her being awarded a 2008 Morris K. Udall Scholarship. UM photo by Nathan Latil.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
OXFORD, Miss. – When the chancellor’s office at the
\nUniversity of Mississippi called Alecia Waite to schedule a
\nmeeting about environmental issues, the student leader and
\nactivist immediately prepared herself to show how Ole Miss
\ncould improve its recycling efforts.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nBut Chancellor Robert Khayat had a different agenda –
\nnamely, a surprise reception to congratulate Waite on
\nwinning a 2008 Morris K. Udall Scholarship.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“It’s funny, because I was cramming for the meeting,
\nstudying up on recycling, so I’d be ready,” said Waite of
\nOxford, a senior in the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors
\nCollege. “I first heard about the Udall in my freshman
\nyear. It was a lot of work, but it was really worth it.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nWaite is to receive up to $5,000 for one year. She is among
\n69 scholars who intend to pursue careers related to the
\nenvironment, a topic that Udall was passionate about during
\nhis 30 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. A total
\nof 80 scholars were chosen from more than 500 applicants
\nnominated by 239 colleges and universities.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“Being selected as a Udall Scholar clearly recognizes
\nAlecia as one of the outstanding university students in
\nAmerica,” Khayat said. “It was a highly competitive
\nprocess. It is a credit to both Alecia and to this
\nuniversity for her to be named a Udall Scholar, and we
\ncongratulate her.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nWaite aspires to teach international studies at the
\ncollegiate level, with a focus on U.S. and Chinese
\nenvironmental policy. Though she’d been active with the UM
\nenvironmental group Roots and Shoots, it was a monthlong
\ninternship in Beijing that gave her a new perspective on
\nhow climate change affects urban areas. During her daily
\ntwo-hour commute, Waite said she inhaled lots of dust and
\n“enough exhaust to give me a headache every morning.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“It is easy to envision environmental concerns in terms of
\nmelting icebergs, deforestation and other tangible images,
\nbut cities are full of environmental concerns that can be
\njust as tragic,” Waite wrote in her Udall application. “The
\nnumber one cause of hospitalizations in Beijing is air
\npollution-related diseases. The experience of living in a
\ncity with such vast environmental challenges as Beijing
\ninspired me to adopt an urban focus in my research.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nThat passion, along with her tireless work ethic, has
\nearned Waite many fans among her professors.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“Alecia is a very smart, very hard worker,” said Kees
\nGispen, director of the Croft Institute for International
\nStudies. “She is modest and humble, but still draws people
\nin with her personality. She will go into the environmental
\narena as a lifelong pursuit, with a savvy that will serve
\nher well.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“Alecia has been super-attentive to the issues affecting
\ndevelopment and justice toward the environment,” said SMBHC
\nDean Douglass Sullivan-Gonz\u00e1les. “When I think about
\nAlecia, she has a remarkable grasp of how global
\nenvironmental issues break down into practical day-to-day
\nconcerns.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nThe Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National
\nEnvironmental Policy Foundation was authorized by Congress
\nin 1992 to honor Udall’s legacy of public service. The
\nfoundation is supported by a trust fund in the U.S.
\nTreasury and contributions from the private sector. Since
\nthe first awards in 1996, 994 Udall Scholars have been
\nselected.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“Alecia is deeply committed to the environment; it goes
\nbone-deep with her, said SMBHC Assistant Dean Debra Young,
\nwho coached Waite on her Udall application. “Knowing her,
\nshe’ll be disappointed this meeting she expected with the
\nchancellor isn’t what she thought it would be.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\nTurns out Young was wrong – sort of.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n“I’m not disappointed; this is really awesome,” Waite said.
\n“But you can tell Chancellor Khayat that I’d still like to
\nmeet with him on environmental issues.”
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 Chancellor Robert Khayat congratulates senior Alecia Waite on her being awarded a 2008 Morris K. Udall Scholarship. UM photo by Nathan Latil. OXFORD, Miss. – When the chancellor’s office at the University of Mississippi called Alecia Waite to schedule a meeting about environmental issues, the student leader and activist immediately prepared herself to showRead the story …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nStudent Environmental Activist Chosen for Prestigious Udall Scholarship - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/student-environmental-activist-chosen-for-prestigious-udall-scholarship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Student Environmental Activist Chosen for Prestigious Udall Scholarship - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0 Chancellor Robert Khayat congratulates senior Alecia Waite on her being awarded a 2008 Morris K. Udall Scholarship. UM photo by Nathan Latil. 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<\/p>\n